The Man Who Can't Be Moved
by Blondie B. Happy
Summary: "Hey," Annabeth whispered. "What?" Percy asked. "I know who likes you." "Who?" "I can't tell you. It's a secret. You don't know her, but she knows all about you." And then she turned and walked away, brushing at her eyes with her head down. AU, AH, Threeshot.
1. Part One: Sixth Grade

**So, this is the first part of a threeshot that I hope you all will like! AH, AU, typos, and OOCness. ENJOY!**

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_People talk about the guy that's waiting on a girl  
There are no holes in his shoes but a big hole in his world_

_~The Script~_

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Part One: Sixth Grade

"Okay, class," the teacher started off, but the rest of that was a boring blur, like something off of Charlie Brown.

Percy was tired of school, and they were only a week in. He couldn't stand the sound of pencils writing on paper or the thick, obnoxious scent of Expo markers. He didn't understand the crap that the teacher wrote on the board—wait, was he in math class? He had to be; the teacher was drawing circles and cubes.

He could've sworn that he was in English about three seconds ago. He blinked. He really needed to start paying more attention, but that wasn't really going to happen. Percy was probably going to end up failing the grade or having to go to summer school, which would suck. Sixth grade was off to a terrible start, in his opinion.

Sighing, Percy turned to an open page in his notebook and began to copy down the problem that the teacher was writing, but it seemed to go on forever. And even after the teacher was done, he struggled just at copying the letters.

It didn't help that half the class wouldn't shut up. They were still all excited about what they had done over the summer, rather than doing their work. They chatted with their friends happily.

"I went to Disney World," one of the popular girls said loudly. "It was _so _much fun. I stayed in this resort hotel in a suite, and there were like ten pools."

"You're so lucky," a friend of the girl said, who was nonchalantly texting on her phone underneath the desk. "All I got to do was go to South Carolina. I stayed in Myrtle Beach for a few days, and I went to the beach, like, every single chance that I had. The water's so warm down there."

"I had to go to Ohio," said some guy. "We went to Cedar Point. It was a lot of fun, but I swear, I walked like ten miles in one day. I couldn't move my legs for days. My mom thought it was the funniest thing."

Half the class laugh, but Percy didn't even grin from his corner of the room. He continued to glare at his paper.

They thought that they're summers had been boring. Gee, walking ten miles sure must've been hard. Percy laughed inwardly. All summer he'd had to put up with Smelly Gabe's abuse, neglecting behaviors, and drinking habits while his mom worked fulltime. On most days, Percy had been working too. He delivered magazines and newspapers, walked the neighbors pets, cleaned up at restaurants.

This summer he hadn't even had the chance to go to Montauk with his mom. She'd been too busy, trying to make enough money so that they wouldn't live on the streets and so she would be able to buy Percy new clothes and school supplies.

Yeah, they thought they had it bad.

If it hadn't been for Percy's two friends, he probably wouldn't have made it the entire summer.

Grover nudged him from the desk beside his own. "Dude, you need to finish your work. Mrs. Dodds is going to freak out if you don't have it all done. I don't want any extra homework because you were too lazy to write down a couple of numbers and draw a square."

Percy grinned. Grover Underwood was one of those saving friends. The guy looked like he should be out of high school. He had a goatee and wore an old Rastafarian hat over his bushy hair. He loved to eat, something they both had in common, but his legs weren't that powerful. He had to use a cane to get around and couldn't do gym.

"I have no idea what to do," Percy admitted.

"Just write down something," he insisted. "And scribble some notes or something. Make it look like you tried."

Percy did as Grover instructed, but he wrote really sloppily, that way the mean Mrs. Dodds wouldn't be able to read his work anyway. It was a tactic he had learned from the long elementary school history classes. When he'd had a lot of homework, he would just write really badly. That way the teacher wouldn't have a clue what he wrote and give him a passing grade.

Having dyslexia and ADHD helped. It made everything more believable.

"How can you not get it?" Annabeth demanded. "It's really not that hard."

"Easy for you to say," Percy scoffed. "You've never gotten a B in your life. You think these kinds of things are fun."

Annabeth blushed a deep red from behind and then she turned around from the seat in front of him to look him in the eyes. "I want to do good in school, Seaweed Brain. That way I can go to college and get an actual job, not work at McDonalds."

"Whatever, Wise Girl," Percy grinned, knowing that it would set her off. "At least they have good fries."

She rolled her eyes.

Annabeth Chase was his other good friend, or maybe she was his enemy a little too. He didn't know much about her, other than the basics. She was really smart and lived in Manhattan with her aunt because she had some sort of falling out with his step mom. She was kind of cute, with her curly blonde hair that remind Percy of a princess.

Not that he'd ever admit that aloud. She'd ridicule him for the rest of his life.

Her gray eyes were very intimidating though. If he stared at them too long he'd get shivers down his back. They'd become friends in fourth grade after their teacher had assigned them a project. Percy had refused to do any of the work and Annabeth had ended up threatening him with scissors to his wrist if he didn't try. The teacher had ended up having to separate the two of them.

But somehow, that one little act had brought them together in a friendship of sorts over the years.

"HUSH!" screamed the wicked Mrs. Dodds from the front of the classroom, and even though Percy wasn't even being loud, she glared at him. Seriously? What had he done wrong to her? He looked away and pretended to write some more on his paper, and eventually he felt the stares leave him.

"Hey," Annabeth whispered quietly from in front of him. He glanced up to find her reading a book. She held it up so that it completely obscured her face from the front of the room. She sounded nervous.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I know who likes you!" she blurted out in a hushed voice, and the heat was creeping up her body again, flushing against her neck. She toyed idly with a page.

"Who?" Percy demanded. How could someone like him? He wasn't popular at all and most people made fun of him when they found out that he had to shop at second hand stores for his clothes. He was scrawny and not that tall, and girls never talked to him.

He glanced around at the faces of the girls in the room. Silena and Piper talked to each other, and they were both really pretty and really nice, but they didn't hang out with him that much. A few desks over, Drew was talking to her group of friends, gossiping about how much she hated Piper and Silena.

And then there was Clarisse, but he strongly doubted that she was the one who liked him. She'd hated him ever since they were five and Percy had pushed her off of the monkey bars, successfully chipping her tooth. It wasn't Hazel either, because they never really talked.

Maybe it was Rachel or Calypso, or maybe even Reyna. They were all cute and nice to him.

"Who?" he asked again.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret. You don't know her, but she knows all about you." Annabeth left it as vague as that.

Percy was about to annoy the answer out of Annabeth, but Mrs. Dodds screeched, "Mr. Jackson, if there is something you would like to say to Ms. Chase, I'm sure the rest of the class would love to know."

"Um. . ." Percy shook his head and noticed that everyone in the room was staring at him. He bent down over his textbook and Annabeth continued to read as if nothing were happening. Once everyone had gone back to the new work that Mrs. Dodds had passed out, he leaned forward and whispered, "Who is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Annabeth said. "She made me promise not to tell anyone."

"Can you give me any hints?"

Annabeth put her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet and then turned around to do her work. She didn't look at him for the rest of class.

Percy looked at Grover, who just shrugged, obviously just as confused.

Once class was finally over, Annabeth had rushed out of the room, carrying all of her books, and Percy rushed out behind her, stumbling over some crumbled up trash on the ground. Annabeth kept her head down as she walked to her locker, and Percy followed.

"Give me a hint?" he asked hopefully. Curiosity killed the cat, but he had to know.

Annabeth sighed as she put in the combination. "Don't you have another class to be at?"

"Not for five minutes."

"Four now."

"Come on Annabeth! Give me a hint, please!"

Exchanging her books, Annabeth closed her locker and slumped against it. "She's in at least one of your classes, and you went to elementary school with her. She's very smart and has never had below an A on anything. She's older than you are but not by much. And like I said before, you really don't know her, but she knows all about you."

And with that, Annabeth stalked off, brushing at her eyes and heading towards science, leaving Percy standing there, not moving, and staring at her back until it disappeared from view.

He'd gone to elementary with the girl and she was in at least one of his classes. That didn't really narrow it down by much. She had never gotten below an A. There were some very smart girls at his school, because they actually tried, unlike many of the guys. She was older than him, meaning she'd been born any time before August 18th.

_You really don't know her, but she knows all about you. _

That was the part that he didn't understand, but he didn't bother Annabeth for more information. She looked as if she didn't want to be bothered by him.

So Percy left, going to class, repeating those words over and over again like some type of mantra.

_She knows all about you_.

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	2. Part Two: Twelfth Grade

**Thanks for the support! Enjoy part two!**

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_Some try to hand me money, they don't understand  
I'm not broke – I'm just a broken-hearted man_

_~The Script~_

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Part Two: Twelfth Grade

"Go Percy!" screamed the girls from the stands inside of the small community pool venue.

Percy grinned from the edge of the pool, where he was wearing his sweatshirt and workout pants despite the warm temperature. He sat down on the bench but kept his earbuds in, listening to music and trying to clear his mind.

All he had to do today was swim the 100 meter freestyle once, and that would be that. Hopefully he would win, but considering he had one of the fastest times in the country, he felt like he had a pretty good chance.

It was a shame that Grover couldn't be there, or Frank and Hazel, or Leo. He hadn't expected Piper or Jason to come anyway, since they were always making moony eyes at each other. Hazel and Frank, though also dating, hadn't missed a single one of his matches. And Leo and Grover were usually there too.

Frank and Hazel were going out for their one year anniversary though, Leo had woodshop, and Grover had community service work in Central Park.

Yet half of the girls in his grade were in the stands. Most of them he never even talked to. In Middle School, they hadn't even glanced in his direction or smelled the air in which he breathed. High School really did change people, but Percy wasn't having any of it. To him, those girls were just annoying and fake.

They were always gossiping and looking as if Crayola had decided to punch them in the face. They talked about their expensive cars and purses that Percy didn't really give a damn about. They never helped anyone and just bullied people. They went out with guys who acted the same.

Thank the heavens that Annabeth was there.

She, of course, was sitting by herself on the bleachers, reading her collector's edition of the Underneath, a book that she had made Percy read in fifth grade. It was one of the only books he had ever finished, and only because she had annoyed him into it.

Over the years, Annabeth had seemed to grow more or less away from him. He maybe he grew away from her. He wasn't really sure. Their friendship had stayed strong throughout Middle School, but High School had caused them to sort of drift apart. Maybe it was because Annabeth was in all AP and Percy was in remedial.

But they were still friends, best ones.

In seventh grade, Annabeth had told Percy a quote that had helped him through a lot throughout the years. She really had no idea how much it had helped him out. They'd been trading classes and Percy had been talking about how terrible Gabe was to him and his mother.

"_If you're going through hell, keep going_," Annabeth had told him. "That's a Winston Churchill quote."

"Who's that?"

She'd rolled her eyes and chastised him for not paying better attention in European History class.

But that quote had helped him. Because life had been hell, and he'd just pushed forward through it all. He'd tried his best and even though everything had been really hard, he'd kept going. Really, it was all thanks to his mom and his friends with their support.

Maybe they'd started drifting apart when his mom had finally kicked Gabe out of their lives and things had started to look good for his family. Like when his mother had met Paul, or when she and Paul finally got married. Percy had been able to move out of the tiny little apartment, buy things for once. Life was pretty good now.

Or maybe it happened when Percy started dating Rachel and Annabeth started dating Luke.

Ugh. Percy didn't even like to think about those days as a sophomore. He and Rachel were still friends, but he hadn't had a girlfriend since then. Neither had Annabeth.

What would it be like to date. . . Annabeth?

No. No. She was off limits. Annabeth didn't like him. They were friends, and she showed no signs of wanting to date him. If he asked her out, that would ruin their relationship.

Percy looked up to find Annabeth staring at him. He waved and she waved back, giving him somewhat of a grin, but then stood up and began to make her way over to Percy, her book folded underneath her arm.

He couldn't help but keep watching Annabeth—with her long legs and curly blonde hair that reached down to the middle of her back and bounced a little when she walked. She wore a jean jacket over a black tank top and dark skinny jeans, and those cute little owl earrings she'd had for years. Her eyes were the same stormy, startling gray that mesmerized Percy a little.

Annabeth had really turned beautiful over the years. Wait, no, she hadn't turned beautiful. She'd always been that way.

But he couldn't keep thinking about her that way. Annabeth was definitely off limits to him. She was amazing, smart, funny, perfect in every way . . . he was the kid who couldn't pull off good grades and had the messed up childhood and abusive step father.

With any of the other girls on the bleachers, his past wouldn't have matter, especially since they really only wanted to get in his pants, but with Annabeth it did. He was the kid from the wrong side of the streets, and she knew that. She knew everything about him. If she dated him, she would only see the loser from fourth grade, too lazy to do any of this work.

It was a wonder she hadn't screwed him off a while ago.

He was determined to keep their friendship strong and alive.

"Good luck, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, giving him a hug. Percy couldn't help but notice tiny little details that he normally never did, like how his arms fit perfectly around Annabeth little waist or how her hair smelled of lemon and—

"Percy!" Annabeth snapped, sounding slightly annoyed but somehow amused too.

Shit. He'd held onto her for too long. She probably thought he was some sort of emotional freak now. He let go of her quickly, but she popped forward and gave him a sweet little kiss on the side of his cheek. "I know you'll do great, but then again, you always do."

Half of Percy's body had shut down from that small act, but he somehow managed to keep his calm composure and wink at her. "Now, come on, Annabeth. When am I ever slow? I'm always moving. I think I'll be fine."

Some sort of something flashed across her face, and Percy was unable to place what it was. It was like disappointment and wanting rolled up into one. A deep blush spread across her face, and it looked like she was taking those words the opposite of how Percy had meant them. He didn't even know what the opposite was.

Whatever he'd said, apparently it'd been the wrong thing to say.

"Yes," Annabeth said quietly, now staring at the ground. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You are Percy Jackson after all."

Then she walked away, brushing at her eyes and keeping her head towards the ground, and the weirdest sense of déjà vu overcame Percy. It had to be some sort of epiphany, but he was transported back to one of the days in sixth grade, when he and Annabeth had been in class and then walking to the lockers.

"_I know who like you."_

"_Who?"_

"_I can't tell you. It's a secret. You don't know her, but she knows all about you."_

How could he have forgotten that conversation with her? And she'd never given him an answer to the question. For a few days after that conversation, he'd tried to bring it up with her, but whenever that had happened, she would never answer anything that he said. She'd give him those same clues as before.

"_She's in at least one of your classes, and you went to elementary school with her. She's very smart and has never had below an A on anything. She's older than you are but not by much. And like I said before, you really don't know her, but she knows all about you."_

So as Percy sat on that bench, listening to some more music, he started to wonder again who this girl could be.

Soon enough it was time for him to go into the water and do his freestyle. As he took off his shirt and pants and jumped into the water. It was pretty easy for him to block out the insane cheering from his own personal cheerleading squad, but it was impossible to block out the steady stare from Annabeth's direction.

Her eyes bored into him, like little thunder storms. They were in clear contrast to her smile, which was a little weak but still reassuring. Percy smiled back at her and jumped out of the water, waiting for the signal to go.

Percy finished first place. Water was like a second home to him, and he had gotten an all new best time, which was pretty cool to him. He heard the yelling from the girls, but that was nothing compared to what he heard from Annabeth.

But the entire time he'd been swimming, he hadn't been concentrated on the swimming itself really. That was a second, subliminal thought. He'd been thinking about those words Annabeth had spoken so long ago now. Had it already been seven years since they'd had that conversation about who liked him?

And he still didn't know?

That kind of irked him.

Percy couldn't help but wonder, and perhaps just hope a tiny bit, if Annabeth had been referring to herself. Because Annabeth had said that the girl knew all about him, and Annabeth did know most things. Did she really know everything though?

Besides, Annabeth was that kind of girl that told it like it was, and if you didn't like it, then you just had to deal with it.

So, yeah, it probably wasn't her, and there wasn't anyone else that he cared for it to be.

After he'd dried off and talked to the instructor and whatnot, he was getting ready to leave when Annabeth dropped on by. She grabbed his gym bag. "Don't worry, I got it for you."

"Jeez, isn't it supposed to be the other way around? You're making me feel like the woman in this relationship."

He really needed to think twice before talking, because that just made everything really awkward. Once they'd reached the parking lot, Percy and Annabeth hugged like friends usually did and went their separate ways into separate cars in separate directions.

And as Percy drove away, he knew one thing. He had to see if Annabeth actually liked him. Maybe he was just being delusional, but he wanted to have hope. He wasn't going through hell anymore, and he really did like Annabeth, as he had realized over the past couple of years.

But his friendship with her was important, and he didn't want that to be ruined.

**. . . **


End file.
